SAFEX Newsletter No.35 - EU-Excert

SAFEX Newsletter No.35, 4 th Qtr. 2010 14
Conclusion
While this proposal is being debated careful attention
should be given to the impact of proposed criteria, and
to guard against the introduction of unintended
consequences. Manufacturers may want to assess their
inventory to see how classifications could be affected
by criteria on metal fragments. We may wish to avoid
impacts on 1.4 substances such as propellants. However
if the only criteria added is for metal fragments this may
not be a problem. Finally, we must avoid one thing that
happened with the introduction of the 6(d) test where
ICAO wrote their special provision to require the test
regardless even if a competent authority judged it was
not necessary. Competent authority expertise and
discretion is the foundation of the UN classification
methodology, as stated in the UN Manual of Tests &
Criteria:
“1.1.2 It should be noted that the Manual of Tests
and Criteria is not a concise formulation of testing
procedures that will unerringly lead to a proper
classification of products. It therefore assumes
competence on the part of the testing authority
and leaves responsibility for classification with
them. The competent authority has discretion to
dispense with certain tests, to vary the details of
tests, and to require additional tests when this is
justified to obtain a reliable and realistic
assessment of the hazard of a product. In some
cases, a small scale screening procedure may be
used to decide whether or not it is necessary to
perform larger scale classification tests. Suitable
examples of procedures are given in the
introductions to some test series and in Appendix
6.”
If the 6(d) test is amended for this purpose, the new
requirements would normally appear in the UN Model
Recommendations in 2013 for adoption in regional,
national and modal regulations in 2015.
Explosives Eco-talk
The impact explosives and explosives manufacture has on the Environment fall squarely in the SAFEX domain. We
are as interested in the experiences members of the SAFEX community (Members, Associates and Expert Panel)
have in minimising explosives’ environmental impact as we are in safety and health. While most of our explosives
incidents concern the safety and health impact, we are eager to learn about the environmental side of our activities.
By way of this Feature we want to encourage readers to let us have contributions which create awareness of this
facet of our operations as well as assist our industry to behave with environmental sensitivity and responsibility.
Recycling and Reuse of military explosives for the blasting industry
Hans Wallin, Adviser KCEM www.kcem.se ;
Prof. Bo Janzon, CEO, SECRAB, Sweden, www.secrab.eu
The collapse of the Soviet Union
in 1991 revealed enormous
quantities of military material that
was stored ready for use in
magazines in the Soviet Union,
USA and other countries. The
existing recycling industry could
easily take care of tanks, airplanes,
guns and other non-explosive
materials. Metals have been
recycled for thousands of years but
explosive wastes cannot be
handled like ordinary wastes.
Explosives constitute a very
dangerous type of waste due to
their ability to explode or detonate.
In addition they are often toxic to
both man and the environment. If
not handled appropriately they can
cause severe and fatal accidents.
The purpose of this article is to
give a general introduction to the
challenges we face in disposing of
redundant military explosives.
The use of explosives started with
black powder; an era which lasted
1,500 years and left very minor
environmental problems. The
reason is simply that the
ingredients ─ charcoal, nitrates
and sulphur ─ easily lose their
explosive properties when exposed
to water. About 150 years ago high
explosives (HE) were introduced
starting with nitroglycerine, picric
acid and trinitrotoluene (TNT).
The last two explosive types were
very stable in storage, had low
sensitivity and quickly became
very popular for military purposes.
Modern military explosives are
synthetic, have very stable
properties and are often toxic.
Therefore, they must be recycled,
detonated, burned or chemically
decomposed as they will normally
not lose their explosive properties
with time. Warheads, mines and
other explosive articles when
dispersed remain uncontrolled in
the environment where they
present a serious accident risk to